Two-row cultivator



Demi', 192,6.

` H. R. TRAPHAGEN ,TWO-ROW CULTIVATOR vlFiled March v12, 1925 4 lSheets-Sheet 2 JeA H. R. TRAPHAGE-N Dec. 7 *1926.

TWO-ROW CULTIVATOR Filedl March 12,

.1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 7 l, 1926.

H. R. TRAPHAGEN Two-Row cULTIvAToR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4A Filed March 12, 1925 spectively,

team

essie. I

HARRY TRAPHAGEN, CF ROCKFGRD, ELLl'NOIS, ASSIGNOR IO EMERSON-BRANTNG- HAIJI COMPANY, F ROCKFOB-l), LLNGIS, A CORPORATION ILLINIS.

'rufo-now oULTIvA'roR.

Application led March 12, 1925. Serial No. 14,895.

ri'his invention relates in general to culti` vators and has more particular reference to two-row cultivators, although not confined to this type.

The primary purpose of my invention is to simplify and improve the mounting and control of the cultivator beams, as will be described more fully hereinafter.

@ne of the purposes of my invention is, therefore. to provide a high vcross-bar which connects the pivot wheels for steering and which provides a supportfor the cultivator beams on which they may be adjusted in pairs either to accommodate different widths of rows or for proximity to the plants. With this is combi-ned a low hitch for the cultivator beams which causes their shovels to penetrate to the proper depth and hold their position in the ground lby reason of the suction produced by the incline of the shovels.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide improved mounting or support of the cultivator beams on the cross-bar through the agency of hangers, improved means for adjusting the hangers and consequently the beams laterally, and improved means for applying the draft to the beams.

Still another purpose is to provide means associated with the cross-bar construction for adjustment or alignment of the carrying wheels.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by those skilled in this art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following descripviewed from the front as in Fig. 4, illustrating different adjustments;

Fig. 7, is a top View of the cross-bar and hangers showing a modified form of adjusting means; and L Figs. 8 and 9, are top and side views, re-

showing t-he wheel-adjusting structure. Y

My invention in its preferred embodimentl is applied to a cultivator having pivot carrying wheels 11 on which a suitable frame designated generally by 12 is supported.l

In this instance each'wheel axle has a horizontal axle port-ion 13 and an upright spindlel portion 14 the latter of which turns in a sleeve 15 integral with a corner bracket 16 to which the rear frame cross-'bar 17`and the rear ends 18 of the front frame crossbar 19 are bolted. The wheels are mounted on the axle portions 13 and are held from displacement by a sand box bracket orf' axle connection designated generally Vby 2l clamped onto the elbow portion of the axle by a U-bolt 22. To 'each bracket 21 is. adjustably secured a forwardly and upwardly inclined side bar or steering arm 23. These side bars are pivotally attached at 24 to the ends of the cross-bar 25, thus establishing a connection between the wheels for holding and steering them in parallelism.

The adjustable connection between each bracket 21 and side bar 23 is for t-he purpose of adjusting each wheel with respect to its side bar for properly aligning the wheels. Referring to Figs. 8 and 9 Vwhich apply to both side bars, it will be observed that the side bar 23 is pivotally attached at its lowerv rear end by means of a bolt 26 to the bracket 21 and is further secured thereto by a bolt 27 which passes through a slot 28 in the cross-bar. A bolt 29 connecting the side bar at a point forward of the bolt 27 with an extension 31 on the bracket 2l and adapted to be clamped thereto by nuts 32 provides a means for adjusting the bracket 21 and consequently the axle and its wheel upon and about the pivot bolt 26 and with respect to the sidebar 23. By reason of the connection comprising the side bars and cross-bar connecting the wheel this adjustment provides a'simple and eective means for properly aligning the wheels, it being manifest that the several nuts will be tightened after the adjustment is made.

The cultivator may be drawn or propelled by any suitable'means. At present a single draft pole Ais employed, although in cultivatorsrof this kind it is also customary touse double poles. In the instant lcase the pole 33 is connected to apivot wheel pole truck designated generally by 34 attached by rearwardly diverging side bars 35 tothe main frame. shown constitutes the subject matter of a separate application filed January 9, 1926,

Serial No 80,252.

'.llhe cultivator beams are mounted on the cross-bar 25 which is adapted to be shifted laterally l`Y the operation of foot levers 35 e Ting' the cultivator. ,The foot and 8T for levers7 pivctally mounted at 3S on seat bars.

39 suitably lined to the main frame, are caen connected by a link to a chainV l2 which passes through a hole in the front frame bar 'lt/ around a pulley on said b2 i, and is attached to the cross-bar 25 at a point centrally between its ends. ln this instance the chains are connected to a bracket ist which is secured by a bolt /l to the crossbar. lt will be manifest from the foregoing` that the operator on the seat i6 may steer or giiide' the cnlt-ivator by operation of the foot levers 36 and 37.

rllhis being a two-row cultivator there are four cultivator beamsj il?, a8, 49 and 50, coni'- 'monly referred to as the left and right hand. pairs, as vie 'ed by the operator. rlhe beams ma]V be of any suitable or preferred construction and will be equipped with suitable shovels as is customary and essential to iinplements of this kind. l? or the purpose of avoiding confusion in the drawing and inasmuch. as these shovels are well known in the artrthey have been omitted from the drawino lt will be understood however7 that the should be of a type in which the shovel blades are so shaped or inclined as vto j ienetrate the ground and have a natural suction which will hold them to the working` of cours@ that the draft The particular appliis one of the in'iportant features of n'iy invention will be presently noted, V

vEach heann attached at its forward end to a hanger mounted on the cross-har 215, .is slidable ormay be otherwise shiftable lengthwise thereon for the purpose of laterally adjusting the bea; The hangers, designated generally by 5l, 52;, 53 and .for the beams 417. i9 and 50 respectively7 are similar in construction and a description of one will suffice, similar reference numerals applying to similar'partit. rlhe hanger comprises a suitable struc re mounted to slileilengthwise on che cross-bar and having pendent end terminating in a horizontal portion to which the forward end of the cultivator bea is pivotally attached and which is preferal'ily located approximately inthe horizontall plane of Vor coplaner with the beam, that is, in the plane in which the beam is disposed when in the normal working' position shown in Fig. 3. The present hanger is of two parts, namely a T-shaped bracket 55 and a pendentbar 56. The bracket has a tubular cross-portion slidable Thek particular pole truck structure-on the cross-bar 25. and an upright tubular pivotally attached at 6l on a vertical axis to a collar lined as by means of a set screw 6?) to the horizontal portieri 57 of the hanger bar, the connection of the push rod to said bar being forward of the latter. frs shown in Fig. el the collar 62 is interposed between the bifurcated forward end portion Ciel of the bracket 58. .'iiilhile the push rod functions to maintain the location of the low hitch or application of draft to beam and to carry the resistance from the shovels. .it will be observed that it is so mounted as to accommodate both the latere swin 'in;ry motion of the cross-bar 25 and the hangers for steering' purpose and the lateral movement of the 4hangers upon the cross-bar for adjusting` the beams with respect to the rows. ln other words the hangers and cross-bar assembly may be swung laterally as a unit or the hangers may be individually shifted laterally on the cross-oar, these movements being provided by reason of the pivotal connections at the front and rear ends of the push rods. rlhe the weight of the hangers and beams on t-hel Y crcss-bar 25 is carried by the main frame through the agency of rollers 60 attached to the front iframe har i9 by suitable brackets.

'lhe rear end of each cultivate-r beam will be supported at a determined level by any suitable means well known in this artsuch, for example7 as by a pendent chain or'link not shown) connected to a suitable adjustlever orv equivalent device for setting' the depth of the shovels.`

lt is desired to adjust the beams by movement of the hangers to accommodate rows of different widtl s aud to follow variations between adjoining` rows, also to adjust the beams toward and from fach row to secure the desired proximity of the shovels with respect to the plants. This method of beam adjustment lis particularly desired in those localities where it is customary to list the ground and plant with single row machines, as a result of which there is invariably some irregularity in the spaciini` of the rows, ln localities where two row planters are used and the rows are parallel and eduidistant apart it is only necessary to adjust the beams of each pair toward and frontiv the plants because the operator in cultivating` follows the same two rows that have been simultaneously planted. lt is desirable for economy in the cost of production of these cultivators to provide separate controls for the two conditions, although the control for theV first is applicable to both.

The first described beam control is shown iii-Figs. l to 6 inclusive. lt comprises a pair of hand levers 641- and 65 pivotally mounted at 38, above-mentioned and connected to bell-'crank levers 66 and 67, respectively, by means of links 68 and 69. Said bell-crank levers are coaxially mounted to turn about a trunnion 7l int-eral with a bracket 72 heid in position on the nderside or' the cross-bai' by the bolt The bell-crank lever 66 has a forwardly projecting arm 73 connected by means of links 7 l ind 75 to the hangers 5l and 53, respectively, or in other words to the outer beam of the left hand pair and the inner beam of the right hand pair. The other bell-crank lever 67 has a forward-V ly projecting arm 76 connected by links 77 and 78 to the hangers 52 and 54: respectively., that is, to the .inner beam of the left hand pair and the outer beani of the right hand pair. By swinging both levers 64. and 65 rearwardly from the full line position shown the beams of each pair will be moved away from the plants as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 and by'swinging them forwardly the beams will be moved toward the plants, this adjustment being to position or set the shovels in the desired proximity to the plants where the distance between the iows is fixed. The hangers may however, be set to different widths of rows by changing the connections of the links 711-, 15, '77 and 78 with the hanger brackets, it being noted (lig. l) that each hanger bracket hasaseries of holes for this purpose. ln effect, the adjustment is one for changing the effectiveV length of the links.

VVhere'it is desired to maintain a perinanent distance between the shovels of. each pair to follow irregularities in the spacing of the rows and to individually adjust each pair of beams to follow its respective row the link connections between the bell-c ank levers 66 and 67 and the hangers are changed to the arrangement shown in Fig. 6. rlhat is, the arm 73 of the bell-crank lever 66 will. be connected to the hangers 5l and 52 andthe arin 76 of the bell-crank lever 67 will be connected to the hangers and 54. Thus, upon swinging both hand levers 64 and 65 forwardly both pairs'of hangers will be moved as nnte toward the center of the cultivator as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 to accommodate a narrower spacing of the rows; or either lever mightv be manipulated separately to move its pair of hangers as a unit outwardly or inwardly to follow any irregularity in the spacing of the row with respect to the companion row. By reason of the provision for adjustment `between the bell-crank lever links and the hangers the latter may be set to accommodate rows of diiferent widths.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the double lever method of control permits of adjusting' the beams towurdand from the plants where the spacing of tho rows is permanent, as shown in 5, or ofindividually adjusting each pair of beams as a unit to follow its row which may vary in distance from the adjoining row, as shown in Fig. 6. il control of this kind is therefore, adapted for the conditions in both localities above-mentioned.

In Fig. 7, I have shown a modied forni of beam control employing only a single hand lever, this being adapted for cultivators intended to be used only where the planting has been done with double row planters. ln this case the cultivator follows the two rows planted by the planter and `the rows are consequently equidistant apa-rt at all points. ln this forni the single lever 79 is connected by means ot' a link 8l to a lever designated generally by 82 pivotally snpported by the saine means and in the saine location as the levers 66 and 67. rllie lever 82 has a forwardly extending arm 83`connected by links 84 and 85 to the hangers 52 and 5s, respectively, and a rearwardly et+' tending arm 86 connected by links 37 and 88 to the hangers 5l and 53 respectively.` It will be evident that the beam adjustment in this case will be similar to that shown in Fig. 5 except that it is accompanied by operation of a single hand lever instead of two such levers.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys clear understanding of my invention espe` cially with regard to the lvarious adjustments and controls of the cnltivator beams. Attention is, however, directed to the simplicity of the construction whereby said varions adjustments are obtained iii combination with a pivot wheel dirigible cultivator, and in further combination with a high cross-bar and low bea-m hitch. It will be manifest, of course, that the steering is acc complished without disturbing the settor adjustment of the beam hangers ont cross-bai'. The low beam hitch is especially advantageousin that no extraneous means or devices are necessary to hold the shovels in the ground, but instead the low draft from the lower ends 57 of the hangerscombined with ther ordinary suction the shovels holds the latter to working depth. iiiotlier advantage of the construction is that the desired'plant clearance is provided by reason of the high cross-bar and at the saine time provision is made for either individual or unit adjustment of the. beams. lt will be particularly noted that with this arrange'- ment the cultivator beams have a. low point of draft. 'It will beinanifest to those skilled ils in this art that this combination has distinct advantages over those cultivators in which the beams are attached at low points to single piece arches or the equivalent, and are consequently not laterally adjustable upon the arches, or in which the beams are attached at their forward ends to comparativa lyV high cross-bars or the equivalent and therefore, have a correspondingly high hitch.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of the objects prefaced above and although l have illustrated seven al embodiments of the beam control it should be understood that in putting my invention into practice various changes might be made in details of construction, and the substi tution of equivalent parts and devices without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims, in whichl claim:

l. A cultivator, comprising, a frame, pivot carrying wheels therefor lie-ving steeringl arms, a cross-bar connecting the steering arms of said wheels to swing the same, cultivator beams, a hanger for each beam mounted at its upper end on thecross-bar to slide thereon and attached at its lower end to the forward end of the beam, a push rod for each beam pivotally connected on a vertical axis at its rear end to the frame and inclined forwardly and downwardly and pivotally connected also on la vertical airis at its for- 'ward end with the lower end of 'the hanger,

the said push rod swinging onapproximate- :ly the same radius as said steering arms and carrying wheels therefor having steering arms, means connecting the arms of said wheels for steering, including a cross-bar located at a comparatively high position at the front of the frame, cultivator beams, a hanger for each beam mounted at its upper end on the cross-bar and pivotally attached at its lower end to the-forward end of its beam on a horizontal axis substantially coplanar with the b eam in its normal working position, and a push rod for each hanger pivotally connected on vertical axis at its rear end to the frame and inclined forwardly and downwardly and pivotally connected on a vertical axis at its forward end with the lower end ofthe hanger, the said push ro-ds swinging on approximately the saine radius said arms whereby to maintain the location of the beam hitch an-d to resist the thrust of the cultivator shovels.

3. In a two-row cultivator, the combination of a frame, two pair of shovel beams at 'shiftable with said beams, said links being arranged to entend in opposite directionsfro-in said levers in one state of adjustment to operate one beam of each set, and one of said links being arranged to be reversed to extend in the same direction as its companion so that the two links in the new state of adjustment operate both the beams of one set, said levers being arranged when the short and the long links connected therewith are extended in opposite directions to shift the beams of each set closer together or farther apart and being arranged when the short aud long` links connected therewith are extended in the saine direction to shift the sets of beams toward and away from one another.

l. ln a cultivator as set forth in claim 3, the provision of connections between said links and said shovel beams for varying the Ieffective length ofthe links whereby to vai-y the spacing of the beams in a set orto vary the spacing of the sets of beams in the two possible arrangements of saidk links.V

5. ln a cultivator, the combination of a frame having carrying wheels, a plurality of sets of beams drawn with said frame, a cross member, parts slidable laterally of the frame on said cross member for shifting said beams, an operating member at an intermediate po-v sition with respect to said cross member and short and long` links extending inropposite directions from said operating member having connection with said slidable parts, the long or short links being arranged to be reversed to extend-in the same direction as companion links operated therewith and to have connection with slidable parts toward the opposite end of the cross member whereby the beams of each pair may be shift j toward and from each other or the sets of beams may be shifted toward and from each other substantially as described.

6. ln a cultivator as set forth in claim 5, the provision of adjustable connectionsV for the one end of said links to determine differl ent fixed lengths of connections between the shovel beams and said operating member, they said connections determining in one case a different initial spacing of the beams in a set or in the other case a different spacing` of the sets of beams substantially as described.

HARRY R. TRAPHAGEN.

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